He held a manila file in one hand and wore the same smug expression he had before the scandal broke. His face was the same but his bigger stature made her rake his body with her angry stare."You’re back and the first thing you did was to annoy me with some petty things?" she said, her voice flat as she walked back to her seat."Is that disappointment I hear? It looked like you didn’t want me back.""It's apathy. You should try it sometime and see how good it feels."He chuckled. "You haven’t changed; you are still quick with the barbs. I thought a relationship would have softened you."Her jaw tightened. "Don’t talk about me like you know me.""Touchy." He took a few steps closer. "I thought I’d leave you a little peace offering. Clearly, your taste hasn’t matured. What a waste; someone else would have been interested.""Clearly, you still think gestures erase damage."Ryan leaned on the partition wall of her cubicle. "I'm trying, Cassie. I am trying to make amends. You don’t have to
Ryan adjusted the cuffs of his deep navy suit as he stepped into the lobby of the building, his chin lifted high in the air like nothing had changed. It had been six long weeks since he last walked through those revolving doors, yet the scent of lemon-scented polish and industrial coffee was just as he remembered.“I thought it was long enough for something to change but unfortunately, everything remains the same,” he murmured to himself as he stepped into the building. The marble floor gleamed beneath his polished shoes. The receptionist glanced up, startled."Mr. Ryan," she said, blinking. "You... you're back… finally." The drag of the 'finally' made him tilt his head a bit before he straightened his back."Of course I'm back, Brenda. Did you think they’d keep me out forever or was that what you were wishing for?" Ryan offered his signature grin, the one that made some women swoon and others cringe. Brenda looked unsure which camp she now belonged to as she motioned for him to go
Several weeks had passed and Ryan’s suspension was finally coming to an end. He had gambled all the money he had saved during the suspension and was drowning in debt while trying to reach Genevieve aggressively.That afternoon, he dialed the number she gave him and it finally rang. He couldn’t believe it at first until she picked it up.“Were you trying to play smart with me? Do you want me to tell your husband about our deal? Should I let him know that you were the one behind all of these?” His voice shot through the roof as his blood boiled. Everything he had been dying to say flew out of his mouth without control.“You threw me into the pit and turned your back on me. I had to pay several debts and almost lost my job. Why did you approach me in the first place when your intention was to destroy me by using my past?” His lamentations knew no bound. He kept talking over and over before she suddenly released a long yell that almost rendered him deaf.“Are you just going to keep on r
Finally, the date of the hearing was set and Chloe prepared herself for the appearance in front of the committee. Her chest was heavy as she dressed up and headed to the train station. After a three-hour ride, she was at the city’s station.“Let’s do this. We have to do this.” She told herself over and over with every step she took.Her huge muffler was hanging helplessly around her neck as she dropped her head but she mustered her courage until two familiar voices called out to her.“Chloe!” Mia and Cassie rushed to her side and her face lit up immediately. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” Mia hit her shoulder slightly. “What do you mean by that? Do you think we will leave you alone to face that monster? We will solidly be behind you.” She stated and all the tension in Chloe’s body melted immediately“Of course, I have the best of friends.” She pouted and snuggled into their embrace before they led her to the car that would take them to the university
I took two days to gather myself, battling feelings of shame, anger, and betrayal. Then, with Cassie's help, I reached out to the women and sent each of them an email, thanking them for their courage and asking permission to include their evidence in a formal report.The replies came back with support. They were ready to help without hesitation because they had been waiting for the day to expose the wrongdoing he did to all of them.Cassie helped me compile everything with their timestamps, forwarded emails, drafts with tracked edits, audio recordings from his unsolicited late-night calls, and even a note from him telling me to “add his style” to a research proposal I’d written from scratch.We began drafting an anonymous complaint towards the appropriate quarters. Cassie’s contact in university admin helped submit it quietly through the ethics board’s secure portal and we patiently waited for the feedback from the committee.That night, I lay awake staring at the ceiling, my heart ha
The lab was unusually quiet that afternoon, humming only with the soft whirl of machines and the occasional rattle of glassware as the other nurses moved about. I stood hunched over the fume hood, watching a pale purple solution boil gently in the flask. my mind was a whirlwind of questions I hadn't had the courage to voice, not even to myself but as I wiped my gloved hands and turned around, my phone rang.The buzz of Cassie’s incoming call pulled me out of my own thoughts. It had been a week since the embarrassing encounter in the nurses' station, and though I acted unbothered, my spirit had been quietly decaying inside. I hadn’t told the girls everything but something about Cassie’s tone when she said, "Pick up. I found something," sent a tremor through my chest.I answered. "Hey... what is it?""You have a second?" Cassie asked,"Yeah, of course. What’s up?" Cassie didn’t hesitate. "Chloe, listen to me carefully. I looked up Dr. Amos Weller. He's married with two kids. There